Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanisha “Queen It Shall Be” Hall.
Hi Tanisha, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in 1980 in Brooklyn, NY and raised by my grandmother/Mama (Lula Mae), who introduced me to a lifelong love of board games. As a kid, I made my own games out of loose-leaf paper and art supplies, and screaming at the TV while playing along with game shows with my Mama was a sacred ritual. Raised as an only child, I spent plenty of time in front of the screen, heavily shaped by popular shows in my community and PBS which is where I fell in love with learning about history and education overall.
At 21, right after having my first child, I moved to South Carolina for a slower pace and more space. Having grown up with my Mama’s Wilmington, NC accent, the cultural transition was smooth. Eventually, I had three kids, but after losing a job that wasn’t serving me, I hit a low point with depression. The turning point came during a game night reminiscing about classic Black sitcoms: I realized I wanted to start a business creating games that explicitly and unapologetically celebrate Black culture. I said to myself, “bet!” and launched In All Series-Ness which is a play on one of my favorite phrases (“in all seriousness”) and a promise to build a whole series of creations.
I dove into researching game development and was thrilled to discover a vibrant community of fellow Black developers. Today, my budding brand boldly celebrates our culture through content creation, livestreams, a growing portfolio of games, and my very own game show, A Good Black Game Show, fulfilling my childhood dream of being a game show host.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been smooth. It can be a challenge for days at a time keep focus while life is lifing. Despite the fact that my zodiac sign is Libra, balance isn’t something I always thing I have. Like many, I struggle financially, and I sometimes worry about how I’ll keep doing what I love without physically dying for it by overworking for underfunding, but that’s minor in comparison with the struggles of mental and emotional health while being an entrepreneur that’s a woman and Black.
The last few years specifically have been the toughest and scariest time of my life so far. My marriage of 10 years ended from betrayal and abuse leaving me with debt and deep depression. My health was declining from years of stress, silence, and poor habits. More and more friends were becoming ancestors. And right when things started looking brighter and I’m revamping my life in every way, my daughter (youngest) breaks her ankle rollerskating, I get Covid, and a tree falls on my house in the middle of the night while two of my kids and I are home and we lose everything. Just like that, we’re homeless and asking for help (a challenge in itself). I worked myself away from the option to give up and it still hurts now to be seemingly ok only to be reminded of something… everything I lost when someone asks me why I’m not promoting my games as much anymore. And, in my true comedy as comfort fashion, I respond… “Because… Tree, Melissa. Tree.”
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in creating games exclusively to highlight Black culture. I create games inspired by Black sitcoms, cinema, and original content. I’m known for developing Hillman The Game. A table top board game because I’d always wanted to attend an HBCU and the closest I had to that was A Different World. Around the same time I was also creating Flavor The Game because even though I hadn’t the experiences of being grown and single in NY in the 90s, Living Single gave me great insight and inspiration to be fly, which is to simply be myself. I created a series of picture guessing games for free on YouTube called “Get to Guessin'” with topics like soul food dishes, Black cartoon characters, Black comedy films, Black superheroes, zodiac signs of Black celebrities, and a lot more. I also developed the Spades Coach to teach Black people how to play spades from a safe space because I remember how traumatizing getting yelled at while trying to learn the game was. Did I learn how to play? Yes. Am I good at the game? Yes. Was that the ONLY way I could have learned? Absolutely not, and that’s the point to everything I do and stand for.
What sets me apart is how well and intricate the games I make are. Everything is on purpose and I love to learn while conducting research. There are easter eggs all over and I will theme a theme out! I’m a helluva host and I take my time developing a game because it’s a very personal process for me. My games are love letters to the Black community and flowers for us all while we’re here and I have so much fun developing them.
I’m also known for being an unofficial, official world record holder by dancing live every single day on my social media for over 7 years not missing one day, and the receipts are still up. It’s my personal movement for accountability and joy to do one thing every day that makes me happy. I call it #KneesUp (you can thank Debbie Allen but that’s another story for another day).
What matters most to you?
Show me what you do with nothing and I’ll know what you’ll do with everything. What matters to me most is being the change I want to see. It matters to me that when Black people get together, the space is welcoming, inspiring, authentic, and safe. It matters to me that we foster moments of joy we can look back on to help us move forward with love. I believe love is the thing that’s going to win it all. It matters to me that we’re activated by connection and choose to honor that from the inside out. It matters to me that “Younger Me” is super proud of “Now Me” whether I’m making money or not. And it matters to me that I do right by my talents and encourage telling someone you love that you love them, even if the somebody is you. I mean, after all… spread love is the Brooklyn way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.iasgames.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iasgames (as well as @queenitshallbe, @hillmanthegame, @flavorthegame, and @goodblacktime
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inallseriesness
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ias_games
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@iasgames.
- Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/QueenItShallB (as well as @IASGamesDotCom and @AGoodBlackTime)
- Gofundme: campaign to help rebuild after the tree disaster – https://gofund.me/e7d8a774e
